Friday, December 21, 2012

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 81)

-1-

Christmas
Card Cop-out I would
like to say a sincere thanks to all of you who sent us Christmas cards! You
didn't receive one from us this year not because we don't love you, but because
I decided to try and maintain my sanity and a prayerful spirit while Kevin and
I have lot going on right now. In other words consider yourself, loved, hugged,
and prayed for!

-2-

Traditions
from the Niermeyers There are three pieces
that make up the holiday tradition must-do things for our family: 1.) certain
Christmas music 2.) decorating the family Tree 3.) making Christmas
cookies. We really get into these three
traditions every year, click
here for details and a few photos.

-3-

Wisdom from White
Christmaswhich it’s our family’s tradition to
watch each year. I wrote this reflection
Fall
Asleep Counting Your Blessings a few years ago when we didn’t do many of
our usual traditions and how they played out for us that Advent season.

-4-

Teeth R Movin’ This has been an interesting couple of weeks for
teeth in the under 3 age bracket of the household where I nanny. The twins both have their two front bottom teeth
starting to peek through their gums the same week when their older sister had to have her top
two front teeth removed. Though it’s made
me think of the song “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” I’m not
sure it actually applies to any of them at the moment. Cutting teeth is painful, but having them
pulled is not too fun either. Hopefully
the tooth fairy will also bring something nice for the girls’ mommy and daddy
this weekend.

-5-

Remembering Loved Ones Lost I’ve
had some dreams about my dad this week.
In one of them, there was a period of time within the dream that I
thought my dad was still alive, though he had already died even (in the dream). Thinking of him along with family and friends
who have lost loved ones more recently always reminds me to pray extra for
those mourning those dear to them, especially this time of year. Of course, all of those affected by the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, will be in our hearts and prayers this year.

-6-

No Family, No Celebration A
Christian friend texted me this week to check in and see how Kevin and I were
doing. Talk about a humbling experience,
this busy single mom (of a 14 month old little boy who’s super cute!) works
full-time and lives a few hours away from us, and she's the one who takes the time to reach out to us
to see how things are going. (Major guilt
enter stage right and left.) I asked her what she was doing for Christmas. She said she has to work Christmas day, and that since she has
no family in this country, she usually doesn’t do anything special to
celebrate. How sad is that. Not sure if Kevin and I will be able to go
see them sometime soon, but we’ll certainly be sending something to help them
celebrate Christ’s birth and God’s love! If you know someone without family nearby, try to include them in what you're doing and/or do something special with them between now and New Year's.

-7-

My
Audition Piece Over the
past eleven days, when I haven’t been chasing little ones or running errands, I’ve
been feverishly rereading, taking notes, on the first four books in a YA series, and working on an audition piece I
will be sending within the week to a group of authors who are actively seeking
a fourth writer for their series of Young Adult novels. The
cool thing is that I’ll be working with them either way as a copy editor (though I’d really love to be the fourth writer, too!) Your prayers would be much
appreciated please and thanks!

Welcome to my blog!

I'm a prayer warrior, wife, writer, blogger, poet, author, journalist, photographer, teacher, nanny, speaker, and voracious reader/book reviewer. I'm known in certain circles as "spiritual diva:" a woman who strives to put God and His will before everyone and everything else in life.